Sahaja Meditation as a Therapy for Anxiety and Depression

We all feel anxious from time to time, and a certain level of anxiety is normal — even useful. For example, if you're about to take a test, the fear of failure provokes you to study. But excessive anxiety can be terrifying, paralyzing, and debilitating. Fear and uncertainty begin to rule your life, wreaking havoc on your relationships and interfering with career and family responsibilities on a daily basis. Likewise, we all experience some degree of depression throughout our lives. We all have our "up" days and "down" days. But for the emotionally stable psyche, these mood swings are fleeting. Extreme feelings are transient and typically pass within hours — a day or two at most. It's when these negative feelings linger for weeks, months or even years that they interfere with ability to function on a daily basis. Stress plays a big role in causing all psychological disorders, certainly depression and anxiety. An inability to cope with stress makes mild symptoms of anxiety or depression worse, and can make severe symptoms completely debilitating, even life-threatening. Meditation is a natural coping mechanism. Thoughtless awareness or mental silence helps quiet and calm the mind. Thoughtless awareness also frees the mind of the negative, self-defeating thought patterns and rigid belief structures commonly associated with depression. Meditation is also a major mood booster. It instills a sense of optimism and hopefulness and enables you to focus, make plans, and follow through on those plans — something that is difficult if you're emotionally troubled. If you have emotional resilience, you can minimize the impact of stress on your health and relationships. Some neuroimaging studies have shown that meditation increases activation in the left side of the frontal lobe, an area that's associated with low levels of anxiety and a positive emotional state.Another study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that even a short program in "mindfulness meditation" (which is similar to thoughtless awareness) may produce lasting positive changes in both the brain and immune system function. Participants attended a weekly class and one 7-hour retreat and practiced meditation for an hour a day, six days a week for eight weeks. All participants showed increased activation in the left-side part of the frontal lobe, an area that typically becomes more active when people are positive and optimistic; i.e., this area is associated with lower anxiety and a more positive emotional state.Sahaja Meditation affects the neurochemicals that mediate positive emotions and mood. One study of men conducted by Professor Ram Mishra at the McMaster's University in Toronto showed that Sahaja Meditation, compared to rest, triggered a 70 percent increase in beta-endorphins, the endogenous feel-good opioids that are released by the pituitary gland. Endorphins trigger feelings of peace, happiness, and overall well-being. They're the body's natural pain relievers.

Sahaja Meditation is a registered not-for-profit organization providing meditation programs across the world. The benefits listed are based on Sahaja Meditation research over several years and experiences of practitioners across the world. Sahaja Meditation does not recommend any modification including discontinuation or alteration of any form of your current therapy without prior consultation with your health care professional.